


A Merger of Mutual Advantage

by dreamersshouldknowbetter



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Office AU, prompt, workplace flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 02:46:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12224157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamersshouldknowbetter/pseuds/dreamersshouldknowbetter
Summary: Prompt: Can you write a fic where Betty is the owner of a newspaper company and has to set up an important business deal with Jughead but Jughead ends up flirting with Betty throughout the entire meeting?





	A Merger of Mutual Advantage

The office was buzzing. News of the potential merger with an up-and-coming online periodical seemed to have leaked to the staff, and everyone was excited at the possibility of stealing a glance at it’s infamous, and decidedly private, owner: Jughead Jones. 

“Betty! Is it true?” Betty’s assistant Kevin practically bounded up to her, holding out her caramel frappuccino as he followed her into her office.

Betty accepted the drink and took an appreciative sip, glancing at Kevin before shutting the door behind them. “Yes it’s true - but  _please_  Kevin, you know I love you and have always appreciated your knack for obtaining information, but you  _must_  keep this quiet. It took me almost two full months of tracking down various contacts and sending emails before I could get Mr. Jones to agree to meet with me. This could be a huge deal for this company, but it won’t go anywhere if he gets spooked by nosy employees.”

Kevin sighed, pouting his lower lip dramatically, “Fine, I’ll keep my mouth shut. But only because you’re the most incredible boss in the entire world. And because you gave me an extra week off so that I could go to Cabo with my boyfriend.” He winked, setting a small handful of notes on her desk. “These are your messages. I’ll leave you to it, boss lady.” He gave her a mock salute before returning to his desk and shutting Betty’s door behind him.

She sighed, leaning back in her chair and glancing out at the activity around the office. She had always liked that her walls were glass, it made her feel more connected to her employees, but right now she would give anything to be able to shut out all the curious glances. 

She wasn’t kidding when she told Kevin it had taken nearly two months to set up this meeting. Jughead Jones, the mastermind behind a small but increasingly popular news site, was nearly impossible to track down. After all, Jughead clearly a false moniker, and Jones was one of the most common last names in all of America. It wasn’t exactly a name that lent itself to easy googling.

It had taken a lot of effort and an excessive amount of sleuthing before Betty had finally scored an email address. On nothing more than a prayer, Betty sent off a message and sure enough, she received a response. He was meant to come to the office today, to discuss a possible collaboration between their two companies. In fact, he was due to come visit in only an hour, and Betty was growing increasingly anxious by the minute. 

She really needed this meeting to go well. Mr. Jones’ periodical,  _The High Crown_ , was an online forum that allowed various writers to investigate cold cases, consolidating information from all around the globe to create elaborate write-ups. The site had really gained traction after it’s efforts actually helped solve a twenty-year-old murder, and had become a cult phenomenon ever since. Betty’s newspaper,  _The Sweetwater_ , was well-established and rather successful, but missing a key demographic audience that an organization like  _The High Crown_  could provide.

The next hour passed quickly, Betty losing herself in reviewing final edits and authorizing article topics. Before she knew it Kevin was knocking on her door and informing her that the lobby had just called to announce a special visitor was on his way up.

She stood quickly, straightening her blouse and reminding herself to breathe. Underneath all of her nervousness, Betty felt a twinge of genuine curiosity. She was finally going to meet Jughead Jones, mystery extraordinaire. She walked toward the elevator, her brain flooding with the possibilities of what this mystery man could look like.

It appeared her imagination had failed her, however, because the man who stepped out of the elevator was more stunning than anything her mind could conjure up. 

He was taller than she’d expected, perhaps because height wasn’t really something she pondered when picturing a man behind a computer, and lean, filling out his casual flannel jacket without appearing too brawny. His muddy green eyes peeked out from behind a single black curl of hair, connecting with hers and causing a brief disturbance in her gut. For someone who famously hid his face from the public, he sure was handsome.

Not that it mattered what he looked like, she reminded herself, this was a business meeting, not a happy hour. Straightening her spine, Betty reached out her hand in greeting and cleared her throat. “Mr. Jones, so nice to finally meet you. I understand privacy is of the utmost importance to you, so if you’ll just follow me I’ve reserved us a conference room where we can talk without any… wandering eyes.”

“Oh trust me,” He smirked, his tone lower than she had anticipated, “I highly doubt anyone would be looking at me while I’m standing next to you.”

Betty blanched, his forwardness catching her off guard. Was he… flirting with her? No, no of course not. He was just trying to be a good conversationalist. He was a businessman, flattering people was a part of his job. This meeting was a much an interview for him as it was for her.

Shaking herself mentally, Betty decided it was best to simply not respond instead silently lead him toward the conference room. She had deliberately chosen the most private room with the least populated travel route, and judging from the way Kevin was trying desperately to shadow them she knew she had made the right decision. 

She stepped into the room, allowing Jughead to enter behind her before swiftly closing the door. It was a quaint space, with a small round table and a few decorations, lacking any of the nicer amenities the rest of the office possessed. 

“I apologize for the smaller room,” Betty said, rushing over to the table and adjusting a few of the chairs, “I assure you the majority of our facilities are more upscale than this - it’s just that our office space has an open floor plan, and glass walls don’t exactly benefit your privacy.”

Jughead looked around, running his finger along the edge of the table before taking a seat. “I like it. It’s more… intimate, this way.” He kicked his feet back on the table, the same smirk as before etched on his face. 

Okay, he was definitely flirting.

Nevermind that, Betty was a professional. This was her  _work place_ , for God’s sake. She wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of her business.

She quickly took a seat, setting down the binder she had prepared for the meeting and opening up to the first page.

“I’ve prepared some financial reports for you,” She started, pulling out a few exhibits as she talked, “along with an analysis of our key demographics and a write-up of our current distribution methods. Now if you’ll just take a look at-”

“You really don’t like small talk, do you?” He interrupted, pulling the binder away from her hands and turning it toward himself. He flipped through it, his lips slowly tugging upward as he analyzed her work. “Color-coded, huh?  _Very_  impressive, Ms. Cooper.”

Betty breathed, trying to calm the simmer of irritation she felt at his mockery, “Well you don’t build a nationally distributed newspaper from scratch without being organized.” 

“No, I’m serious.” He insisted, taking his feet off the table and sitting up a bit straighter, “I’ve done my research and you have done an unbelievable job cultivating this company. It’s no surprise that someone as successful as you would be this organized.” He smiled, and Betty relaxed a bit at his compliment, “Besides,” he leaned in, “I find your incessant organization really cute.”

She pulled back a bit in her chair, trying not to let his charming grin overwhelm her. “Mr. Jones, I hardly think this is -”

“Jughead.” He interrupted, the smile on his face growing more and more bothersome by the second.

Betty paused, her forehead wrinkling together in frustration, “Fine.  _Jughead_ , I hardly think this is the appropriate environment for…” She faltered, the word “flirting” catching on her tongue, “whatever it is you’re doing.”

“Alright then, where is the right place? I’ll take you there.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry,” He shook his head, “I suppose I’m not being forward enough. I’m asking if I can take you out.”

“Believe me, you’re being plenty forward.” Betty said, grabbing her binder and shuffling her papers back together before standing, “Mr. Jones, I had really high hopes for a collaboration between our two business, but if you aren’t actually going to take this seriously I see no reason to continue this discussion.”

She couldn’t believe this, all of this hard work just to get herself into a room with a man who wanted to make googly eyes. It was infuriating, that he would waste her time like this, come to her work place and get her hopes up only to make a fool of her. 

She prepared to walk away, finding the idea of slamming the door in his face extremely enticing, but she couldn’t stop herself from trying to get one last word in.

“Look,” She slammed the binder down on the table, “I truly thought our two businesses would work well together, but you’re acting extremely unprofessional. Just because you’re attractive does not mean you can just-”

“You think I’m attractive?” Jughead stopped her, the twinkle of affirmation in his eye only fueling her frustration further.

She huffed, crossing her arms across her chest, “That’s hardly the point.”

“I disagree,” He stood, leaning across the table and lowering his voice, “I think that’s precisely the point.”

“I don’t mix business with pleasure.” Betty insisted, forcing herself to stand her ground, feeling a small twinge of pride when he was the first to lean away.

“I suppose that’s smart.” He nodded his head, “There’s only one problem with your argument.”

Betty rolled her eyes in annoyance, “And what might that be?”

Jughead smiled, walking around the table and approaching her, “You’ve made it quite clear that after this interaction you have no interest in going into business with me.”

Betty took a sharp intake of air as he stepped closer, invading her personal space and forcing her to look up at him. She felt her emotions muddle as she breathed him in, her anger intermixing with an undeniable attraction that somehow only made her even more infuriated.

“Are you like this in all of your meetings?” She snapped.

“I wouldn’t know,” he stated simply, “this is the first time I’ve ever agreed to meet someone in person.”

Betty furrowed her brow, “If you don’t take meetings, why did you agree to meet me?”

“Like I said, I did my research on you Betty Cooper. You’ve built a company from nothing, never compromising your ideals or wavering in your mission. I knew I wanted to work with you before I even scheduled this meeting. But after everything I learned about you, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to meet you. I was already impressed by your work ethic, but I wasn’t prepared for how incredibly breathtaking you would be.”

“So…” Betty ran her bottom lip beneath her teeth, “you do want to work together?” Betty asked, earning a soft chuckle from Jughead.

“I think you missed the point of my speech, but yes. I have no doubt that it would be to our mutual benefit to collaborate on work. In fact, if you have the papers prepared I’d be happy to sign them right now.”

Betty’s eyes lit up, rushing over to the table to once more pull sheets out of her binder. She truly hadn’t thought she’d use these papers today, but being ever the optimist she had printed them out just in case.

She held out a pen for Jughead to take, waiting as he took a step closer to her to actually give it to him. “Signature here, Initial here, date here.” She pointed as she spoke, watching with delight as Jughead followed her instructions. When he was done he pulled the binder toward him, stuffing the signed papers inside and closing it shut.

“Now that that’s out of the way,” He smiled, “What do you say we relocate to that “appropriate environment” we were discussing. Maybe dinner? Tomorrow night?”

Betty looked up at him, surprised at the close proximity the two were suddenly experiencing. He smiled at her with a dopey sort of lopsided grin, somehow much less infuriating and cocky than she had perceived it to be not minutes before. She didn’t understand what he was thinking - they had only met that morning and yet he was appeared to be certain in his desire toward her. It was unnerving, but against Betty’s better judgement it didn’t feel unreal. Still, business was business, and she couldn’t seem to talk the logical side of her brain down. She also couldn’t seem to convince herself to turn him down.

She smiled back at him, an unfamiliar feeling of excitement flooding her chest.

“I’ll think about it.”


End file.
